Operation management - Essay Example

eBay Inc is a consumer to consumer internet company whose headquarters is in California. The company manages an ebay.com website, which provides an online auction services, shopping opportunities to people all over the world. This website is responsible for selling a variety of goods and services. To be effective, it has to develop a marketing strategy that will attract traffic to its website. It uses search engine networks such as MSN, and Google for purposes of attracting traffic to its website.

While using these search engine networks, customers will always type the key words of products they want, and a variety of options will be available to them (White, 2012). The company also identifies the various needs of its customers, and hence develops programs that are meant to satisfy those needs. An example is the introduction of “Buy It Now”. This is a standard shopping section that makes it easier for shoppers to make bids and buy the product. The company also advertises its products through online classifieds advertisements such as ebay classifieds or Kijiji (White, 2012).

For a product to qualify and win bids, the products must not fall under the restricted category. These are products that either wants to advance an immoral behavior such as pornographic materials, sex toys, etc. These products must also be acceptable by the law that is the company cannot allow an auction of illegal products such as banned drugs, or weapons. The seller of the product must also provide an accurate definition and description of the product under consideration. Sellers must also provide a proposed price for the products.

The sellers must also fulfill certain conditions for their products to be able to qualify and win bids at eBay. That is they must provide a valid debit or credit card, with an accurate bank statement (White, 2012). The seller must also pay a certain fee to eBay, so that the products can be listed on the eBay website. The company’s operational design is created in manner that will lead to the reduction of power costs, and an increase in the efficiency in which their computers load system works.

Power costs, is an example of an operational cost that the company faces. On this basis, eBay has created an operational structure that is aimed at cutting the power costs it incurs at half, enhancing the performance of its computer load system, as a result, making it reliable and easy to use. Enhanced computer load system will carter for the needs of its over 90 million users. To achieve this objective, eBay has created a portfolio of 12 data centers which are meant to keep up with the increasing computer loads that emanate because of an increase in the number of its users (White, 2012).

However, the company is unable to initiate policies that will cut on its power costs, and this is because of a growth in its business initiatives. In May 2010, in its bid to improve on their computer load system, the company opened a flagship capacity, and a data collection center in Utah. This project was referred to as Topaz, and it hosts a third of the company’s world wide servers. References: White, M. (2012). Buy it now: lessons from eBay. Durham: Duke University Press.